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Rampal Jamaat leader bombed to death

Rickshaw-van-puller dies in attack; OC closed; BNP leader, activist arrested

STAFF CORRESPONDENT, Khulna
Unidentified assailants bombed to death the vice-president of Jamaat-e-Islami Rampal unit in Bagerhat in a drive-by attack that also killed his rickshaw-van-puller early yesterday, prompting police to arrest a local ruling BNP leader and an activist.
Moulana Gazi Abu Bakar Siddiqui, nayeb-e-amir of the ruling coalition partner's local chapter, came under
attack on Khulna-Mongla Highway near his home village of Solakurha in the outlaw violence-scarred southwest region, dubbed as the valley of death.
Deputy Inspector General Abdul Aziz Sarker closed Officer-in-Charge Badruddoza of Rampal Police Station to Bagerhat Police Lines, whom local Jamaat leaders blamed for his role in the murder at a protest rally at 11:00am yesterday.
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Witnesses said 35-year-old Sultan Mallik of the three-wheeler was pedalling the Jamaat leader back home from Shanatonia Madrasa, where he attended a waz mahfil (religious congregation) as the chief guest.
The killers on a microbus threw three bombs at the van, killing Abu Bakar instantly and smashing the head of Sultan who died on his way to hospital, police quoted the witnesses as saying.
The demonstrators, protesting the first-ever murder of a Jamaat leader in a long line of killings over the years in the region, alleged the police officer threatened him several times with dire consequences for his protest against his extortion from fish farmers and links to outlaws.
Police arrested Rampal BNP leader Mohammad Ali and activist Gazi Humayun linking them to the killing of the 60-year-old and quoted the worker as confessing to his role in the murder that he said was planned by Ali.
According to law enforcers, the killing stemmed from Abu Bakar's protest against the alleged grabbing of a shrimp enclosure and land by some BNP leaders including Ali.
The BNP leaders, refuting the allegation, said Abu Bakar verbally
abused the OC at a meeting of Bagerhat law and order committee last month with Whip Ashraf Hossain in the chair.
Joint forces launched combing operations to track down the killers in the wake of the incident that underlines security fears in the southwest. Police retrieved the van from the scene.
A senior member of Bagerhat district unit of Majlis-e-Sura, the highest decision-making body of Jamaat, Abu Bakar lost out to main opposition Awami League lawmaker Talukder Abdul Khaleque in the last parliamentary elections.
POLICE EXCESSES
A few days ago, the OC arrested Shahin Gazi, younger brother of the slain Jamaat leader, without any specific charge, who was sent to Bagerhat Jail after he was shown arrested under Section 54.
Security was tightened in and around Rampal following the murder that dragged life to a standstill.
Hundreds of people including leaders of political parties attended the namaz-e-janaza of the Jamaat leader. The body of the van driver was sent to Bagerhat General Hospital for an autopsy.